Saber Reviews No. 2: Damiensaber NEW Released XRGB 3.0 Bluetooth Lightsaber

    Welcome Back to BlazinBlue's Review! I hope everyone's been doing well. Last time, I started testing the waters with expanding the content that is covered. And it was pretty successful. It also helped me realize that there was a small part of the lightsaber community that wasn't necessarily being covered to its greatest extent - written reviews. If you look on Youtube and enter Lightsabers, you'll find a huge amount of video reviews. Those are nice and all but I know that there are some people that would rather read than just check out a video. 

    This brings me to today's review. First off, this review wouldn't be possible without Damiensaber. I reached out to a few different companies to see if they'd like to work together. After seeing a couple 'no' or not hearing anything back, I was a bit defeated. I thought that maybe this wasn't something that just wasn't going to work. But then, there was hope. Damiensaber reached back out to me and was interested in collaborating together. 

    When that happened, I will admit that I was so dang excited. This was one of those cool moments that just feel like they don't happen often. Whenever I have the awesome chance of catching a screening for a new movie or manage to score an interview, I get that same feeling. It's pretty dang cool and makes me realize how lucky I am to get to do this. 

    So, they gave me the option between two different sabers. There was no. 112 and no. 115. Now, that might not mean much. But when I looked between the two options, I went with the one that called out to me. 

    Look at how cool that saber looks! Every time that I've had the pleasure of receiving one in the mail, it's been awesome. However, this time felt absolutely different. This was like Christmas Morning all over again. Let's get into it, shall we?

For those that are already interested, you can find the link here:

https://www.damiensaber.com/lightsabers/fx-dueling-12-sound-fonts-custom-saber-no115.html

(Preface: I would like to take the time to say that I was sent this saber from Damiensaber. So, thank you for this opportunity. This will be a complete unbiased review about the saber - no. 115. )

With this being my second official saber review, it's just mind blowing as to how many different options that people have available to them. When I first started looking into lightsabers for my son and I, I was overwhelmed. There are just so many out there. 

In my initial research into things, Damiensaber is a company that is at the forefront. It's one of those names that when someone asks for a good place to buy a saber from, you'll probably hear someone say Damiensaber. 

After receiving this saber - the no. 115, I can honestly say that their products are pretty solid. Above, we have the image from the product page over on Damiensaber's website. But sometimes when we receive something in the mail, it may differ. Did that happen here? Check out this picture following the unboxing of it. 

This is such a beautiful saber. Lately, I've been starting to dive into the High Republic era of Star Wars. From what I've seen in the comics, this honestly feels like it's pulled out of that era. It has the two teeth in the emitter that give it a snake like appearance. It's an extremely distinct design. For those wondering about how many retention screws it uses to keep the blade in place, there are three points. After putting the screws in, it holds the blade in pretty well and very snug. 

The grip is extremely smooth. Some may think it's a bit basic. But it's the beauty in its simplicity. It allows there to be a lot of room for hand placement. This is something that is extremely effective when dueling or spinning your lightsaber. When compared to other sabers, this was very refreshing. For those that wish, one could add a leather wrap to it. 

One small nitpick that I've had with the grip is during dueling. With it being so smooth and bare, it can slide through the hand a little too easy sometimes. 

That brings us down to the pommel. When I first started looking at it, something felt very familiar about it. I just couldn't quite place my finger on why that was. Now growing up, I had seen the Original Trilogy quite a bit - SciFi channel marathons being a big highlight. I also had the pleasure of getting to go see Return of the Jedi Special Edition in 1997 - big shoutout and happy 40th Anniversary to Return of the Jedi. So when it was announced that we were receiving the prequel trilogy, I was stoked. It was beginning of my Star Wars trilogy essentially. My favorite character in the film was Obi-Wan Kenobi. Once I thought back on Phantom Menace, it hit me. The reason that this pommel felt so familiar is because this is essentially a slimdown version of Kenobi's Episode 1 lightsaber pommel. And that's just fantastic. 

Hilt Score: 5 out of 5

As for the electronics that are featured in this Damiensaber, I didn't look at it closely on initial look. I haven't been collecting sabers for very long. So, I haven't had a lot of experience with the variety that's available. My personal experience has been with baselit sabers. So, I haven't seen many of the fancy features that a pixel one would support. So, I was a little bit underwhelmed at first. 

But then, I started realizing what was powering this saber. It's a xenopixel 3.0 board, or it helps to refer to it as the XRGB 3.0. I did a bit of a double take with it. This was something new. 

What does this mean? Well, it means that this helps bring you one step closer to what you can imagine a lightsaber would be. This is a board that blows everything that I've previously dealt with out of the water. Honestly, it was a few months ago that I found myself wondering why can't baselit sabers get a board that would support SD cards. Why couldn't us that love to duel have something that we could customize to our hearts content? Make it more seem like our saber. 

I can absolutely say that with this board - those thoughts have been answered. This features 16 sound fonts with the ability to add more through an SD card.  It supports smooth swing with some beautiful accent swings. Each font can have its own color and blade effect. 

In the past, you would have a one button system that would handle all the heavywork of cycling through the various features. With this incarnation, it can be handled through a bluetooth app (Xeno Configurator on iOS and Android). Immediately, I was flabbergasted. 

(Above are some images from the Xeno Configurator app. This should help illustrate what to expect from the app. Right now, it's an app that's continuing to evolve. But so far, it's pretty intuitive. There are some features that will be added at some point.)

After spending time with the app, all I can find myself saying is "This is the way.". It's so intuitive and so easy to change features on the fly. If you want to change your sensitivity for your gesture controls, you can do that. If you want to change the timing of your powering up and powering down of your saber, you can do that. If you have a certain color that you had your heart set on (to the point of knowing the color code), well you can do that. You wish to change the sound to a softer volume, you can. 

Literally this just kicks down the doors as to what you can do now. Literally you can make it your own. 

Electronics Score: 5 out of 5.

    Having a variety of sabers now, it's interesting seeing the saber fonts that are available. With this saber, I noticed a good variety in the selection. One of the coolest thing was seeing the variety of Fallen Order fonts, especially a Vader. I've seen Vader fonts before. This one is definitely different and really cool. All of these are incredibly beautiful.

There are probably a few different fonts that feel missing. But with that SD card, it won't be too difficult to add it to the library. 

The Saber Fonts are as follows: 

The Dark Sword (Darksaber), The Chosen (Anakin Skywalker), Double Agent (Revan), The Princess (Leia), The Son (Luke Ep. VI Return of the Jedi), The Protector (Obi-Wan), The Knight (Kylo Ren), The Fallen Apprentice Magenta (Cal Kestis)

The Master (Qui-Gon Jinn), Truly Lost (Dark Cal Kestis), The Dark Lord Order (Darth Vader - Fallen Order), The Third Hunter (Revan from Obi-Wan), Dark Empress (Dark Rey), The Wanderer (Malicos from Fallen Order), The Assassin (Asajj Ventress). 

Sound Score: 4.5 out of 5

    With the hilt and sound out of the way, that brings us to the light show portion. That's honestly the best way to phrase it for covering the colors. From what I've seen of other sabers, it hasn't disappointed thus far. Each one delivers a solid job. With each new saber, I've begun to notice a trend. Each one is a step up from the last. I'd say that would showcase a solid job of the way that products are evolving. 

With the No. 115, the light does continue to impress. One of the biggest evolution I've seen is that each of the different saber fonts can have its own color. That's pretty frigging cool. I didn't even know that was going to happen till I powered it on and started cycling through. 

At first, I was like well it sucks to see that the colors aren't remembered. But with the time I've spent with the saber now, it does remember the color that you set for each font. With each font, it'll also remember what blade effect you apply to it (Unstable, Stable, and Pulse). There may be some features that are not immediately available. But with some tinkering, it may be easy to find them waiting to be unlocked. 

Originally, I had a few different pictures showcasing the different colors. But I thought I'd try something different and include a small video that showcases the infinite color changing. 

Color Score: 5 out of 5      

Now as those who may be wondering what else I could possibly cover in my review? Well, in my opinion, there's the most important feature that a lightsaber has to have. The ability to duel. I mean come on, who doesn't want to recreate a good lightsaber battle that you've seen in the Star Wars films or The Clone Wars and Rebels tv shows? 

The blade that comes with this Damiensaber is the standard 36". It's highly durable like the one that came with my Dark Wolf saber. My son and I took the saber out yesterday and had a few rounds with it. It held up to some severely strong beatings that it took. So, his training will begin as the duels have only just begun.

Duel Score: 5 out of 5. 

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Hilt: 5 out of 5

Electronics: 5 out of 5

Sound: 4.5 out of 5

Color: 5 out of 5

Duel: 5 out of 5

Overall: 4.9 out of 5 (Highly Recommend)

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Overall, this would be a fine addition to anyone's ever growing lightsaber collection. It is pretty outstanding seeing some of the newer features. The ability to have a color/blade effect for each color is pretty outstanding. For those that are just starting out on their lightsaber journey, well I'd highly recommend this one. It is sleek and elegant, while also being solid for dueling. It's large enough to be able to use two handed comfortably. 

For those that are already interested, you can find the link here:

https://www.damiensaber.com/lightsabers/fx-dueling-12-sound-fonts-custom-saber-no115.html

If you are interested in other lightsabers, you can always check out https://www.damiensaber.com/. 

You can find BlazinBlue's Review on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Update - 4/10/2023

     Hello everyone, Matthew still here or as some may know me as BlazinBlue. When I first started this blog, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I really had a few different ideas in mind. But I knew one of the things I wanted to do was cover horror movies. It's a genre that is just so near and dear to my heart. My family got me started on horror movies when I was a bit young. By today's standards, it was a lot younger than most parents would probably do today. But you know what, it's okay and I turned out okay. 

    The thing that kept me from turning this into something real was myself. I kept doubting myself. I kept saying that I wasn't good enough. I kept asking myself 'Why do you want to do this? You didn't go to school for journalism.'. And it took someone very special to me to help show me that if I put those ideas to rest, I could do this. This was something that was possible. 

    And then I just jumped in one day with a review for a small indie horror film, Weird Fiction. It then began to become something more. Was it going to pay the bills? Sadly, no. But it allowed me to finally be able to express myself and talk about things. Could this turn into something more? Honestly, I have no idea. However with everything that's happened so far, the sky's the limit. And I've had a few awesome things that I never thought I'd get to do. 

    What are some of those things that I've gotten to do? Well, I have had the pleasure of being able to cover some pretty awesome films. One of the biggest ones being Slumber Party Massacre '21. That was just absolutely bananas. Sadly at the time of the actual press junket, I couldn't participate in the audio interviews. Primarily the only thing that kept me from that was I was recovering from dental surgery. Another awesome thing that I've had the pleasure of was getting to attend a small theater screening of Addison Bink's Psycho Ape. Sadly, I couldn't stay for the showings but I was able to get hold of a dvd copy. So please stay tuned for that review that's in the pipeline. Another thing that I have gotten to do was actually interact with some amazing people in the industry, Adam Marcus and Vincente DiSanti. I honestly could never thank anyone enough for being able to have these experiences. If this is all that I've gotten to do, that's entirely okay. 

    As you may have noticed, there's been some gaps in content. I apologize for that. But we all know that life happens. Thankfully, things are a little less chaotic now. Things are still underway for our home renovations and having a small farm (3 goats and 50 chickens) can be a bit much. But it's allowed me to take some time and regroup while I did that stuff. And I am happy to say that I'm not going anywhere. I am going to keep doing this because it's something that I love. 

    With last week's Lightsaber Review, you may have noticed that things are changing a little bit around here. While I love horror films and we are in a bit of a horror boom, there's more to this than just the horror genre. I have decided to take a step forth into a much larger world. Oh wait, that sounds like Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man doesn't it? With this, I've expanded what I can talk about around here. If we would like to talk about horror movies, we can. If we would like to talk about props, toys, and collectables, well we're going to. 

    As you can imagine, I will also be diving further into the Galaxy Far, Far, Away with more Star Wars stuff. I can happily announce that there will be another lightsaber review, courtesy of Damiensaber. So, stay tuned for that one. I will also say that we will get to check out a LeMarchand Box. That's pretty friggin great. And then, I have something hidden by a big metal door of a certain Mezco variety.

    To kick things off, I am happy to say that we have finally evolved - New Name and New Header to be more fitting with the way I'd like to take things. 

Thank you everyone that's been part of this. Thank you everyone that's checked out things. Thank you everyone that's been so damn supportive of this crazy idea I had. 

Review: TXQSaber Simplified Anakin Skywalker Saber

Alright , a few months ago, my son broke his elbow. It took some time for him to recover from that. I talked to my partner about maybe surprising him with some lightsabers. They agreed. 

After dealing with an experience, we found our way over to Dark Wolf Sabers. Had no idea what to expect as we opted for the mystery sabers. 

When they arrived, my son had finally gotten his cast off. His Physical Therapy had said that they were thinking of getting him into sword fighting. By that point, we had already been dueling. Turns out it helped him bounce back super quickly to full recovery.

My birthday came, Happy 35. I saved some birthday money up and found a Simplified Anakin TXQSaber over from 1977SaberFeast on Aliexpress. 

I was so stoked. This was a saber that I had hoped one day that I could get. When Master Replicas were available at Best Buy in 2005, I had tried to talk my Dad into getting one. But he pointed out that it was just the hilt and couldn't actually use it. That was a pretty valid point. So all these years later, it was nice to finally get it. I opted for the RGB cause I'm terrified I'll break a neopixel so easily. 

The day came for its delivery, I was like a kid on Christmas Day. I was super pumped for it. That day, it took its time arriving. But it was incredibly worth the wait. 

This saber is different than my Dark Wolf board. It features 16 fonts, 12 colors, smooth swing. The one I had ordered had originally the two button set up. The shop I had purchased from (1977SaberFeast) quickly let me know that version wasn't available anymore. To make up for it, they sent a saber plug. It is one of those little things that makes the experience even cooler. 

For those interested, here is a list of the Saber Fonts in no particular order:

- Cal Kestis

- Dark Saber

- Darth Vader

- Anakin

- Obi-Wan

- Yoda

- Leia

- Palpatine

- Dooku

- Kylo Ren

- Luke

- Ahsoka

- Ben Solo

- Starkiller

And 2 fonts that can't recall at the moment. 

For comparison, my Dark Wolf saber has only 12 fonts. There was a bit of overlap, but that was not a hindrance at all. The thing that I was super surprised by was the fact that it also features 3 music tracks that can be played. It was really cool to hear Duel of the Fates, the Star Wars theme, and the Imperial March playing in the background during some duels. The speaker on the saber is also incredibly well designed. One small drawback is that the charging port is in the bottom of soundboard - so it requires you to unscrew the bottom half to access it. Small little nitpick. 

Now to talk about the colors that can be used. While the Dark Wolf has the infinite changing feature, the 12 colors used for this saber are solid. The way that the light from the hilt emits into the blade is nice. It is pretty vivid. If I had to compare it to the Dark Wolf, I'd give the TXQSaber the point. It just seems like its brighter and more vibrant.

Here are some examples of the various colors available:

Now for those of you wondering about how the blade, I can say that this is very well made. It's the standard polycarbonate blade. The length of it is about 36 inches. It's held up so far to a lot of heavy dueling between my son and I. The more that we use them, the more I grow to love this hobby in general. But after about 8-10 duels so far, it's faired extremely well. For some of the blades, there's like a filament inside of it to help the light illuminate it. But these ones I've noticed have a plastic tube inside it that helps distribute the light throughout the blade. 

As I mentioned before, I can't say how the Neopixel blades fair. All of the blades that I've gotten so far have been for RGB sabers. The reason being that they are extremely durable for dueling. I have heard some say that neopixel blades are cooler for displays and medium dueling. Maybe some day but the way that my son and I have been dueling, it's far from the medium dueling. It's kinda the go big or go home attitude about it. But the best thing of these duels is that they are definitely moments that my son will always remember. 

If you have a chance of being able to pick up a lightsaber, I would absolutely highly recommend it. There is no cooler feeling than holding the saber in your hand with it ignited. It just brings back that feeling you had when you first experienced Star Wars. Now some may say that this hilt isn't exactly Anakin's and that is true. This was what they called the Simplified Anakin saber. For the most part, it is a solid take on it. It isn't a straight up replica. And that is perfectly fine because it feels like a mashup of the Skywalker saber overall. It contains elements from Anakin's and Luke's. 

This was a saber that I will never regret buying. It's from a different brand than what I had previously been used to. But that's the beauty of this hobby, it allows you to branch out and try different ones. I should also say that this isn't like a standard LGT/VHC saber where the parts can be swapped out. If you wish, you could add maybe a piece of leather around part of it if you wish for a Reforged Skywalker saber feel to it. It's a beautiful product that is well made. It blew away every expectation that I had. And it has held up extremely well to all of the tests that it's been put through. And yes that includes spinning it like Anakin did in Revenge of the Sith. That is one of the coolest things that I have been able to pull off during a duel. 

If you are looking for a solid entry into Lightsabers and want something replica inspired, this is without a doubt a good choice. If you want a proper replica, well this may not be your cup of tea. And if you are looking for a lot of customization, well this isn't it either unfortunately. 

HILT Score: 4.5 out of 5

SOUND Score: 4.5 out of 5

COLOR Score: 5 out of 5 (It's not Infinite Changing, but it doesn't need to be.)

DUELING Score: 5 out of 5

Overall Score: 4.75 out of 5. (Highly Recommend.)

If you wish to find it, check it out here on 1977SaberFeast's Aliexpress.

You can find BlazinBlue's Review on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

You're A Mean One: The Mean One (2022)

    

    Hello everyone, I hope everyone has been having a wonderful holiday season so far. It always manages to boggle my brain that it's this part of the year that seems to go so quick. I guess it's cause everyone's in a super go-go state of mind cause of the holidays. It just seems like yesterday that it was the beginning of 2022. But here we are in the throes of Christmas. Usually, I'm in the festive mood. But it seems like as each year goes by, Christmas always manages to get jump started earlier and earlier. I mean this year, we literally had Halloween, Thanskgiving, and Christmas decorations out at the same time. Absolutely boggling. 

    Don't get me wrong that may seem like I'm a bit of a Gri...Scrooge. I'm not. I enjoy the holidays and the time get to spend with family. One of the things that always never fails is that it gives us reason to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, and The Grinch for the umpteenth time. For the horror side of things, you could probably count Christmas Vacation in the category alongside Krampus. It seems like there's always a new Christmas movie to watch. 

    The Grinch is one that I enjoy watching it. I always remembered watching the cartoon classic for so many years before that came out. So when my Grandma was like 'It's time for us to go as a family to the movies.'. I was a bit hesitant. I couldn't for the life of me imagine how they'd adapt things to live action. But they managed to do a decent job. Jim Carrey stole the show, of course. But over the years, it started to lose its shine to me a little bit. 

    Earlier this year, we had begun hearing word of films being made that take a different spin to our childhood IPs. One of the most well known ones was Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey being announced. Immediately, I was very intrigued. I was ready to see the approach they were going to take to the material. These adaptations are a bit small scale, but that's okay. As we've seen so far in this genre, it's not the size of the budget that counts. It all comes down to execution. Terrifier 2 is a superb example of this. 

    Another horror spin on a childhood story was a different look at the Gri....well, let's call him The Mean One. It was announced back in October of this year with some helping release it. At the time when that happened, I imagined it was going to be a small scale release and it'd be dropped onto YouTube. I mean this is an unofficial take on a Dr. Seuss classic after all. 

    But no, it was decided to go big or go home. It was released into theaters this past Friday. Some may have had the chance to see it and some may hold off to see reviews. I had the pleasure of checking it out and have been holding off on things. I wanted to give people the chance that were interested to give it a check before we could sit down and talk about it. 

    If you haven't seen it yet and are interested, I'd definitely say go check it out if you can. It's an interesting experiment. That's honestly one of the biggest things about these horror adaptations I can applaud. Take a story and spin it. 

    For those that don't know, here's the lowdown of The Mean One: 

In the sleepy mountain town of Newville, Cindy witnesses the murder of her parents by a blood-thirsty green figure in a red Santa suit. Twenty years later, the Christmas-hating monster begins to terrorize the town once more. Cindy finds new purpose in stopping the creature and saving the holiday.    

    I have seen others in our community talk about this film. I haven't checked out those reviews as I didn't want it to influence my outlook on things. This past week, it was a bit of a rough one. My partner came down with the Flu. So, we took the time to sit down and throw this on. They love the Jim Carrey Grinch. After they saw the trailer, they were incredibly interested in checking this out. 

    The Mean One is definitely something that I'll be returning to for the Christmas season. The approach to the film is a bit small. I honestly didn't mind that. It honestly felt like those old Sci-Fi original films back when they were good. Once Sci-Fi became SYFY, they started to lose themselves a little. We have seen some that have been a bit of a return to form, Slumber Party Massacre '21 and Banana Splits looking at you. So to find that unique sense return, it made me smile. 

    The Mean One isn't going to be a film for everybody. That is incredibly clear. If you are someone going in and have high expectations, you'll be disappointed. If you go in with an open mind, you have a chance you'll like it. If you enjoyed the old Sci-FI channel movies, you may like it. That's the thing about films these days is that each person can have a different experience than another. 

    Okay with that now out of the way, I really dug The Mean One. All of the little easter eggs in the film were fun. I mean there were a few different ones that alluded to a Seuss-verse going on. That was really cool. There's a character that is called Doctor Zeus. Really on the nose, but the character is super cool. The narration is something that I wasn't sure I was going to dig at first. But over the course of the film with its small uses, the performance is fantastic. It is a wonderful Anthony Hopkins-like. It definitely establishes that there is a love for the source material as well as for The Grinch. 

    David Howard Thornton is in this movie. That was something that I knew going in. I was really interested to see what could be done with him. I wasn't sure exactly how they were going to approach The Grinch. But the way that the film handles it, I definitely dug it. He's a bit more quiet than many would like. I'm sure that there will be some that won't like it for that. But this is a bit more of a naturalistic approach to The Grinch. So, he's not talk talk talking his way through things. He's quieter. And honestly, that's a bit more unnerving for me. But one of the coolest thing is seeing how the film incorporates the Carrey-isms into things. 

    The rest of the cast delivers some good performances. Are these award winning performances? No. Do I feel like we've been spoiled in Horror this year with amazing performances? Yes. Again, these felt home in a SCI-FI Channel Original approach. But again, everyone gives it their all. 

    Going by the trailer, it felt like this was a more slasher take on the material. That is true. One of the highlights for me was a bar scene. If you've seen the film, you know what I'm talking about. As that sequence was going on, my brain couldn't help but insert Jim Carrey singing Mr. Grinch. It just put such a smile on my face. For the most part, I'd say that this could be a bit of a thriller than flat out horror slasher. The one thing with this that took me out of it was the gore. Would I have loved lots of blood flying? With this material, I don't know if we needed all out gore. But what we get in the film is a bit of CG-blood. Lots and lots of CG-blood. It hit a point where it felt extremely over the top. 

    My partner really liked the humor throughout. The changes that were made to adapt the story also made them laugh. And the lighting changes that occurred from the dark blues to more warm colors were well done. However, they thought that there was more that could have been done. And I'd definitely agree as there were a plot hole here and there. 

    Overall, I liked this a lot more than I was expecting to. It had some aspects where there is a love for the material. It's extremely clear. Would it be interesting to see more of this world that's set up in the film? Yeah. Will that happen? Honestly, I don't think so. The Mean One is a bit fun. It does have some pacing issues. There were some moments that felt like things could have been tightened up a little more. But overall, I'd be more than happy to return to this for another visit. 

Rating: 3 out of 5. 

Check out BlazinBlue's Review on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

FAN SCRIPT REVIEW: Cman710's SCREAM LOUDER

 

    Good Morning Everyone! I hope everyone's having a fantastic Friday so far. Here we are at the tail end of October. The Spooky Season has come and gone so damn quickly this year. It's absolutely shocking. It just feels like yesterday was August. It's been a bit busy round here. Thank you for bearing with me as I've been uploading when I can. I'm still hoping that one day that can make this more than just a simple hobby. 

    Earlier this year, we received SCREAM. It was a huge success. It reinvigorated the Scream franchise under the watchful eye of the Radio Silence crew. I was absolutely ecstatic when I saw it and excited for what the future holds for the franchise. 

Sadly, I was also this way when Scream 4 was released. Scream 4 however wasn't the success everyone was hoping it'd be. It played things a bit too close to the chest. It was a small bit of a retread. Though in the years since, it's actually a wonderful play on remakes. But back then, there were quite a few fans that were not necessarily happy with how things went. 

Cman710 is one of those fans. He took it upon himself to craft an alternate take on Scream 4. It was a really solid take. It then led to few more installments that focused not on Jill - no, we got more time with the character of Trevor. This version of Trevor was brilliantly explored through these installments. I honestly cannot recommend checking those out enough. (Check him out on Twitter) 

Then there was always that little voice asking 'When's Hollywood going to try to reboot the franchise? Would it be a remake? Or would it pick up after 4?'. It always led me wondering what the hell a remake could potentially even look like. I love this franchise. It was very much my Friday the 13ths growing up. So, I understand that the talk of a remake is very iffy. Especially when you consider all the successful horror remakes that we got and no I'm not looking at you Elm Street 2010. You go back to your corner and think about what you've done. (Though, there's a very wonderful fan script out there that gave a better idea of how an Elm Street remake could have worked). 

Imagine my absolute surprise when I discovered Cman710 had also wonder the same thing. There is a whole Scream reboot trilogy that was made. I immediately sought those out and gave them a read. I'm always interested in the prospect at how something could be reimagined. Safe to say, it's solid. I don't want to go too far into spoilers for these three. Or at least the first and third ones, sadly the second one had its ending lost. But the characters that were chosen to follow were fantastic. It honestly spins things in a pretty wonderful direction that I never saw coming. 

At this point, it may seem like I'm ranting. In order to talk about Scream Louder, I had to talk about what Cman710 has done so far in this sandbox. 

With those initial three fan scripts, Cman710 established a solid foundation. Scream Louder takes everything that worked and takes it to the next level. All the characters, returning and new, get their time to shine. The way that the story is paced out is fantastic. It honestly doesn't overstay or underwhelm. I honestly found myself disappointed by the time it ended because I wanted more time in this world. That's how much I grew to enjoy these characters. 

Ghost Face in this whole series has managed to relatively play it a little safe. It kind of was what we had come to expect. However with Scream Louder, it's different. Ghost Face is more menacing. It still felt close to what we have seen, but then things get ramped up to 11 in a whole new direction. The kills are also one step further as well. 

One thing is absolutely clear is how much love and passion has gone into these. Each of these scripts also have a different flavor. The first one is very much the original. The second one has a bit of a 'I Still Know What You Did Last Summer' vibe to it. The third would have to be a bit more in vein of 'Scream 4'. And then with Scream Louder, it's has a bit of a My Bloody Valentine flair going for it. 

I definitely know that with how much the bar has raised for fan films, I would love to see these scripts turned into fan films someday. 

I know this may seem a bit light in terms of a review. But again, I don't wish to spoil this experience for people. I highly recommend checking it out when it releases this Halloween.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5. 

*I received Scream Louder as a member of the beta reading that was set up. The version that was handed out wasn't necessarily the final version yet. So think of what I saw as a test reading like a test screening.* 

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The Boogeyman Is Out There: The Ranking of the HallowGreen Saga

 

    Hello everyone and welcome back to BlazinBlue's Review. I know it's been a little bit crazy around here. But I've been trying to drop things as I can. It's just a bit of a busy season around here. 

    Last week, we received the latest installment in the Halloween franchise with Halloween Ends. As one would expect, it has been an incredibly divisive film. I know seeing all the discourse on Twitter reminds me of when Kills was released. There was a large group that hated it. There was a large group that loved it. For those that didn't like it, they really found things to not like. And for those that love it, they definitely find things to really love about it. I would like to say that if you are someone that doesn't like it, please don't give people shit for like it. The same goes for those that liked it, don't go and shit on people for not liking it. 

    As of this writing, we have also received the novelization for Halloween Ends. I've taken some time to dive into it. It was written by the writer for Ends as well, Paul Brad Logan. It's an incredibly interesting read. It definitely does a wonderful job of opening up the film even more. We are able to get more time with characters and things are able to have some time to breathe. One of the things that I wasn't surprised with was Corey's mother. It's a character that I found myself questioning a lot in the film itself. But the book takes the character to a whole nother level. I highly recommend giving it a read. 

    Last year, we dove through the Halloween Franchise entirely in preparations for Kills. It was a fun experience. But I found myself beginning to wonder whether to cover the entire franchise again in this ranking or if I go smaller with just this timeline. I honestly don't know if I'd be changing much of my ranking for the non-HallowGreen films. Each one I do manage to find something interesting to like - yes, even the Rob Zombie installments.

    It all led to this as I decided to focus on the David Gordon Green installments solely. Some may even call this the Haddonfield Saga or the HallowGreen Saga. It's a set of films that honestly went out to do something different than before. When we originally saw Halloween '18 and Kills, it felt a little like a greatest hits. However as we look at it overall now, this is Haddonfield's story. 

    3) HALLOWEEN KILLS 

This installment is a pure slasher take on a Halloween film. We are very clearly seeing Michael in his element. He's not hiding in the shadows no more. He is clearly enjoying the night he returned. 

Last year, I enjoyed the film a lot. It was interesting, especially seeing that flashback sequence. However, Evil Dies Tonight was something that I felt the film held a little close too. The whole aspect of Laurie trying to say that the more Michael killed, the more he became something else felt cheesy. It's honestly an aspect that doesn't even seem to matter anymore. I guess I'd chalk Laurie being wrong about that like she kept insisting Michael was coming after her. Kind of lets one wonder just what meds Laurie was on from her surgery. 

The ending of the film was a bit of a letdown. It felt like things were propelling themselves into something a little more substantial. Michael vs. Laurie, here we go. Except we already got that with Halloween H20. 

The whole Extended Edition aspect of the home release felt even more like a cheap marketing ploy. Some may even say a throwback to marketing for 'Unrated and All-New' experience for DVDs those years ago. Especially with the 'extended' ending. 

It just now feels a little hollow and more like a placeholder film. One thing I will say is seeing the effect that Michael to the townspeople is pretty interesting. 

2) HALLOWEEN 2018

Halloween 2018 was the one that brought Michael Myers back to the big screen. Instead of the Rob Zombie version, we witnessed the return of the Boogeyman - this is The Shape. 

This was very much The Force Awakens. It's even more obvious after the release of Ends. It's a nice return to form. 

At its core, its incredibly in the vein of '78. Things take a little more time to pan out. There are definitely some aspects that I still find myself scratching my head. The biggest one being Dr. Sartain and the Podcasters. Why was it absolutely necessary for Michael to kill the podcasters? Why did both of them have to die? Why couldn't at least one survive? I found myself interested in what they could have been. It'd honestly be New Loomis feel probably. But better than just throwing them away like they did. A missed opportunity.  

Sartain's whole wanting to know more of Michael's dark side is still cheesy as hell. Yeah, it's an Anti-Loomis approach. But it also could have been a little more in the vein of The Man in Black. As much as The Thorn Trilogy is a bit of a hot point, it'd been natural approach for Sartain. 

Seeing Laurie and her family is still interesting. I honestly wish we could have been given more time with them. As much as some may dislike 'I got peanut butter on my penis', the whole family aspect was working really well. And in subsequent revisits, I've grown to love it. 

1) HALLOWEEN ENDS

Halloween Ends was something that I wasn't expecting. I was going into the film expecting more of Laurie vs. Michael. Maybe even the final bout to be a bit more bigger. However, it was a complete curve ball for me. 

I wasn't expecting the film to be the breath of fresh air that it is. Yes, it's a Halloween film. It may not have been the one that many were expecting. I mean I know there was a lot of people expecting a Michael film like the previous two films. 

But from the opening, it's obvious that this isn't Michael's film. This is Corey's story. Could Corey have been introduced in Halloween '18 and Kills? Absolutely. Some may even say that it would have added to the films coherency seeing Corey in the background. It probably could have helped illustrate that these films are Haddonfield's story ultimately. But ya know, I'm happy with what we got. 

This is something that honestly shows that Halloween films do not necessarily have to focus so heavily on Michael. It also does highlight a little more just how much Michael effected the town. I mean look at the glimpses of the townspeople murders at the beginning. What happened with that? I know there's a theory running around that those were people that witnessed Michael in the sewers and the evil influenced them as well. If that was made a little more clear, it'd be interesting. 

However, I like seeing that as the film went on and Corey gained power - Michael lost his. The town literally kept calling Corey a monster and pushing him. It was no surprise that he finally allowed himself to turn into what they thought he was. 

Seeing Laurie picking up and transforming into her past self was interesting. The whole grocery scene was nice. I was expecting to see more of Hawkins. Bit of a missed opportunity. 

And then there's Allyson. There honestly was a lot seeing where she could have been. But seeing how much Laurie is clinging to her, it definitely makes sense that Allyson isn't doing the greatest. She's a bit lost like Corey. So, it's nice seeing the two of them together as they do find something within one another at first. But then, they go to the Halloween Party at the Bar and it just goes down from there. But kudos for her to finally taking a step forward by getting out. 

Ends just was able to capture my attention in a way that the previous two films failed to do. It was a bit fresh. It's an installment that I have now found myself watching 5 times and still finding new stuff. One of my thoughts that I wondered was maybe part of Ends happened in Corey's mind - or least through his perspective and he's not exactly a reliable narrator. 

Honestly, I keep seeing this film as a whole being seen through Corey's perspective overall. Especially with the scene of Laurie and Corey in the Mitchell house. Pardon me if I got Jeremy's last name wrong. 

The only small thing that wished would have tightened up was the funeral procession at the end. It just felt tacked on. 

And like I mentioned before, the novelization offers a deeper look at the film's story. 

Thank you all for checking this out. If you like my content, feel free to follow me on Facebook Twitter and Instagram. Feel free to tell your friends as well. And I'll see you guys next time. 

SPOILER REVIEW: HALLOWEEN ENDS (2022)

 

Hello Halloween Season 2022. With it, you've brought us the return of Chucky and Art the Clown and the Lazarus Configuration of the Hellraiser franchise so far. So far, Freddy and Jason have yet to be seen. Slowly, they are becoming the next urban legend. Now, we are sitting with the return of Michael Myers. 

    Back in 2018 after that initial Halloween was released, I wasn't a fan. I wasn't sure what was going on with this new timeline of the franchise. I could tell that they were a fan of the franchise though. There's absolutely no doubt about that. Halloween '18 was a very solid start. It reintroduced us to Laurie and Michael while laying the ground work of what we would see in this timeline with Karen, Ray, Alison, and Cameron being the most stand out of the new characters. There were some characters that we see that I wished would have been more involved: the Sheriff and Hawkins being strong mentions. We also could have done more with the podcasters. Hell, Aaron could have been the new Loomis to counterpoint Sartain. But while that film was honoring the first film while pushing things forward, it was subverting expectations. But I remember hearing that it the start of a new trilogy. 

    Then we had to wait for the next chapter, Halloween Kills. Originally, the film was shot in 2019 and expected to release in 2020. However, that was not meant to be as we had to face the COVID-19 pandemic. Then it was shifted to 2021. By the point, it was release - we were hit with so much of the marketing machine for Kills. I remember that Halloween 2018 had a strong marketing plan as well, but nothing compared to Kills. Blumhouse was absolutely trying to blow Halloween into a huge blockbuster event. To an extent, it was working but that can be a double edged sword. If you set up expectations to an extremely high level, how can you expect to deliver on that? 

    That's the problem that happened when Kills finally was released. It was such a divisive film. You either dug the hell out of it or hate it. The discourse on Twitter was absolutely amazing that first weekend as we were able to see everyone's thoughts on the film. Kills was an interesting continuation. It was very much taking a Halloween II '81 approach. More of The Night He Returned! But again, it was subverting our expectations. All of the returning characters from the previous films (Halloween '79 and Halloween '18) did so but with a catch. The ones from '79 were different. They were further on in their life. But like Laurie, they let their experience with Michael shape how their life would turn out. Kills also was an incredible insight into how the fear of Michael affected Haddonfield. It literally turned its townspeople into an outright lynch mob. It also delivered on turning MIchael from man into myth. 

    This brings me to Halloween Ends. We finally have our conclusion to the David Gordon Green saga or HallowGreen as some have said (Epic Film Guys, Movie Dumpster and HallowWeenies - give them a listen if you like horror podcasts). At this point, I will say that there will be spoilers. If you wish to be spoiled, you can read on. If you don't, then stop now and go check out Ends. But check it out with an open mind. 

3....

2....

1....

All right, you still here? Good. Halloween Ends is an interesting film. It's a film. But is it the one that everybody was hoping for after Kills? No. No, it is absolutely not. Everyone was hoping for more. Kills was such a blockbuster level Halloween film, it was going to be so difficult to follow it up. 

This film doesn't try to be as big as Kills. Instead of going big, it tells a smaller, more introspective story. 

First and foremost, this isn't necessarily a Michael Myers movie. Nor is it a Laurie Strode movie. We have a fourth entry (again, if we count Halloween '78 as part of the continuity) where we don't follow either of those characters really. 

Yes, they are in the film. The marketing played it all up very very well. Again, the marketing did an extreme disservice to the film in a way. In one way, it brilliantly set things up as a concluding chapter that's been in the making. However, it completely subverted all expectations. That's one of the things I will say about Ends is that it completely subverts any and all expectations that people will have for it. 

By this point, I guess I should talk about the synopsis for the film. The official synopsis was extremely wordy. When it was released, I remember everybody going and trying to decipher what exactly everything meant in it. It partially set up an expectation in a way. So let's get it out of the way, shall we?

Four Years after her last encounter, Laurie Strode is living with her granddaughter Alison. She's trying to finish her memoir. Myers hasn't been seen since that night and now has become a myth. Laurie has liberated herself from her rage and attempting to embrace life. However, when a young man accused of murdering a boy while babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that forces Laurie to face the evil that she can't control. 

That is very much a more simple approach to the synopsis. If they had released that, I think it may have tempered expectations. 

Again, this isn't exactly Michael nor Laurie's story. This is Corey Cunningham's story ultimately. It is very much told from his perspective. Each and every scene is crafted from his perspective. Hell, I'm doing another watch right now. And it's extraordinary just how much that is evident after the initial watch. 

Hell, the title credits aren't even in the original golden hue. They are blue. That is Corey's color as he's seen wearing a lot of blue in the film. 

The beginning of the film was an absolute shocker for me. I wasn't sure it was going to start with the night Corey babysat. Or, if it did - somehow it would involve Michael. To a point, I guess I can say that it did. Jeremy, the young boy that Corey babysat, is a bit of a brat. That's putting things extremely lightly. He pulls a Halloween prank that never should have happened. If it hadn't, things would have turned out differently. But like Jeremy's mother tells Corey, things tend to influence her child and after the Halloween 2018 night - well, Michael Myers is the stuff of myth. But it was during this prank on the second watch, I noticed a small detail. 

Everything is from Corey's perspective. When his fear is growing and he's more anxious, there is complete terror on his face. It left me wondering just what the hell is the story with his home life. Is his mother overbearing and trying to rule every moment of his life? Going by how a scene plays out later, I wouldn't put it past her. But it definitely plays into Corey having some issues. 

Thinking on it now, that whole scene with Corey and Jeremy is a complete subversion of the original Halloween opening. It was something that was very striking and a bit bold. We don't see openings like that very much these days. Instead of the one whose supposed to be watching the child, it was the child itself. It happens extremely fast. Do I partially think it was an accident? Yes. Is it a bad set of circumstances? Yes. Do I think Corey truly meant harm at that point in the film? No, least not yet. 

The big theme of Halloween Ends is infection. It's a small clever play on the pandemic. How something like an infection can get into a town and affect it so much. Michael's influence on Haddonfield is so mythic at this point. We are shown brief glimpses of other acts of violence that have occurred in the town. Always there's someone asking if it was Michael that did it. No matter what happens, there's always that fear that Michael is out there watching and waiting. 

Then we see Corey's life later on, he's the town pariah. Everyone looks at him like he's a monster. Everyone doesn't even consider what happened to be an accident. They strongly know what he is and condemn him for it. As a group of punk-ass high schoolers would say, it's a psycho and a freakshow meeting. Honestly, that does hit home in a way. 

We also see Laurie and Alison as they are attempting to live. Laurie moreso than Alison it seems. Laurie's attempting to bake pies while writing her memoirs. Alison is working at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital. Hawkins is perusing the meat department of the local grocery store in hopes of seeing Laurie. And what happened to Lindsay Wallace? Well, Lindsay works at the bar and delved into tarot cards. (Don't expect to see Lindsay a lot.). But she's friends with Alison. 

Laurie decides to play matchmaker with Alison and introduces her to Corey. She thinks he's a good guy and might be good for Alison. Honestly, I wish that we may have gotten more with Alison. We've seen that character for two films and kinda fell into Laurie's path. Alison has that anger and rage that Laurie had in '18 and Kills. So, I get why we may not have seen a larger storyline for Alison. It may have felt a tad redundant in the story that they were trying to tell. 

In the original Halloween, it felt very much like it was Laurie Strode's story. We followed her character for a large part of that film. Corey honestly feels a little bit like the other side of the coin to Laurie. He may have been a good kid at one point like she was. Yet, the darkness that Loomis saw inside Michael had found its way into Corey. Through the course of that film, that darkness continued to infect Corey till there was no point of return. The seed had just managed to plant itself when he was babysitting Jeremy. 

At this point, it may sound like I'm trying to rationalize and apologize for Corey. I am not. Once I had managed to figure out what the angle the film was attempting, things just continued to fall into place. It's a complete showing of just what exactly that evil and darkness can do when it infects even the best of us. It also helps showcase that while Laurie stays in Haddonfield, she can't move on with her life. That same darkness has found its way inside all those years ago. It also didn't help that Michael had managed to just slip into the shadows after the death of her daughter. 

Laurie dealing with living with Alison is a good indication of where she's at. She may even see Alison as a second chance as she had failed Karen before. Or that she's attempting to attone for what happened in the previous films as Alison is now left trying to figure things out after the death of her parents and boyfriend, Cameron. 

By having Corey front and center with the murders, it shows a bit of the transition of the darkness. It also allows us to have it have a vocal point. Before with Michael, we are guessing what is going on behind the mask. With the good side that Corey displays, that could be seen as his mask. As Laurie states in the film, evil can come from the outside. But its the ones that hide the evil within that should be feared. And that's shown with Corey. 

One part of me wonders what would have happened if Laurie hadn't reached out to Corey. Would he still have been pushed off that bridge by those punk-ass high schoolers to encounter Michael? Did that moment push Corey into Michael's path? Is it truly like the sister of Laurie's neighbor had said? "You tempted a mentally unstable individual. And you're surprised at the results?" Was Corey mentally unbalanced before the accident with Jeremy? Was Corey mentally unbalanced after the years of being told by the townspeople that he was a psycho? 

Because we see the film told fully in Corey's perspective, did some of these events happen the way that we seen them on screen? Is he a reliable narrator? What would things look like from Laurie and Alison's perspective? Would it have been a more traditional Halloween movie like we have come to expect? I definitely viewed things a bit differently than others I'm sure. It probably helped that I watched the first trailer. Then after that, I stayed away from everything. When David Gordon Green and Jamie Lee Curtis had told us that Ends would be a film that pisses people off, I immediately threw every expectation I had out the window. 

Halloween Ends is a film that allows so much discourse to it. Each person could definitely have a different spin on it than another. You may see it differently than I did. It definitely changes what a Halloween film can be. It's not a typical slasher and that's something that many have come to expect. It's a film that investigates the darkness that has been within Michael throughout these films. While we don't see Michael a lot, he's there because he's more than a man. After the events of Kills, he's become a myth and become that darkness. It's also a film that could be seen about the Legacy of Michael. It has a lot of different sides to it. 

Hell, there is a version of Ends out there in the multiverse where it focuses on that Legacy fully. Where then by the end of the film, we'd see Corey taking up the mantle of Michael Myers. Then there'd be a film or two where we'd follow the Corey-Michael. 

Was I upset that we don't necessarily have a lot of kills in the film? No. After Kills, Ends felt a bit refreshing. It does have some kills. But it's not balls to the wall killing. It couldn't be. It had to change things up. Or else, we'd probably be saying that it's just more of the same. 

There is honestly probably more that I could talk about with Ends. It is something that I appreciated a lot. And a large part of that is due to the fact that its different. It has a different perspective on the other films. After two watches so far, I definitely can see myself returning to the film. I'm sure that there's definitely some solid rewatchability - especially if watched within the context of the HallowGreen timeline (H'78, H'18, Kills and Ends). Everybody delivers solid performances in the film. Especially when taken into the context that this is a film through Corey's perspective. I wish that would have seen some characters in a much larger role (Hawkins! SHERIFF DON'T DO NOTHING!). 

If you have a chance to see it, I recommend it. Just go in with an open mind and low expectations. 

Rating: 4.25 out of 5. 

Halloween Ends can be seen in theaters and streaming on Peacock. 

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